A ‘low-key’ service held in Seaham to honour veterans on Armed Forces Day

A service has been held at 11am on Saturday, June 27 at the Cenotaph on Terrace Green in Seaham to mark Armed Forces Day.

Event organiser Dave McKenna, from the Seaham Remember Them Fund and ex-army Chaplin Father Kennedy were joined by bugler Nicola Tempest-Hall and the Houghton-Le-Spring Pipe Band to mark the day.

Dave, who is also a Seaham Town councillor, has told the Echo why the event was “low-key”.

He said: “We didn’t advertise the event to ensure that there would be no large gatherings.

“We’ve missed so many anniversaries so far this year – including VE Day, D-Day, the Dunkirk evacuation and the end of the Falklands War – that we just had to do something.

“We wanted to make sure the day didn’t go by forgotten.”

Dave also explained that this morning’s service had a special focus on those impacted by the coronavirus lockdown.

He added: “We have loads of veterans living in the area and we wanted to do something to honour them.

“Quite a few of them have worked all the way through the coronavirus lockdown so we made sure that they got a special mention during the service.”

The attention for Dave has now turned to planning next year’s service.

He concluded: “I’m glad we got to hold the service today but I’m looking forward to next year where can have the full day as a celebration.”

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